Capito chairs committee on lifting certain emission regulations

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee held a hearing Tuesday on four bills that would lift emission regulations on issues including residential heaters and the motorsports industry.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who chairs the committee, sponsored Senate Bill 1857, which would push the implementation of new emission standards for heaters until May 15, 2023. U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is a listed co-sponsor.

Capito co-sponsored Senate Bill 203, which is aimed at amending the Clean Air Act to allow the modification of a race car’s air emission controls if the vehicle is used only for competition purposes. North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr is the legislation’s main sponsor.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., reading a statement at the start of Tuesday’s hearing.

“The code of federal regulations has grown from 71,224 pages in 1975 to 185,053 pages at the end of last year,” Capito said. “The federal register mirrors this regulatory expansion. Last year, 95,894 shattered the record of the most pages entered in a single year.”

Capito added while attention is largely focused on legislation the regulates larger portions of the economy, such as former President Barack Obama’s health care law and the Clean Power Plan, regulations are often imposed without most people noticing.

“It hasn’t gone unnoticed by the businesses, families and communities suffering from the impacts of all this red tape,” she added.

Senate Bill 839 would prohibit Clean Air Act rules from affecting the production of brick and clay products, and Senate Bill 194 would prevent the shutdown of remote diesel power engines because of the implementation of emission control devices.